A look at Queens Park Rangers F.C. through the eyes of the fans - follow us on twitter @loftyheights70, @LoftyQPR and @qprleeroy

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

R's on the Road to.............. Hull City

On Saturday the R's travel up north once again to play the rearranged fixture against inconsistent Hull City. With Rangers' getting back to winning ways in front of the Sky cameras on Sunday can they now take advantage of their game in hand and further extend their lead at the top or will Hull, who have only scored 11 and conceded 6 in their 13 home games this season, scupper the R's plans to pull further ahead of the chasing pack.

Club History.

Hull City Association Football Club was founded in June 1904. For some years previously, attempts had been made to found a football club, but this proved difficult because the city was then dominated by rugby league teams such as Hull FC and Hull KR. Hull have spent the majority of the clubs history in the lower echelons of English Football but having been taken over by former Leeds’ commercial director Adam Pearson, he saved the club which were temporarily locked out of their Boothferry Park Stadium and heading towards inevitable liquidation having staved off years of money troubles.Pearson bought some financial muscle to the club and begun to build a new home for the club up the road from Boothferry park and allowed new manager Brian Little to start restructuring the club. However after the club was underperformance Little was relieved of his duties and was replaced by Jan Molby.Molby was only at the helm for a matter of months before his run of poor results cost him his job and was replaced by Peter Taylor.Taylor was the man that took Hull into the KC Stadium and secure promotion from Division Three in the next season and at the first attempt in League One he steered the club to Runners Up spot and into the Championship for the 2005/06 season.Having finished in 18th position that season, which was the clubs highest position for over 16 years.Taylor left the club in the summer of 2006 and was replaced by Phil Parkinson.Having endured a poor start to the season and the club in the relegation places, Parkinson was sacked and replaced by Phil Brown as caretaker manager, before taking the job on permanently in January 2007. Brown helped secure Hull’s status as a Championship club as they finished in 21st position. The following season Brown helped Hull achieve and equal the clubs previous highest ever league position was third in the Second Division and having matched that on the way to achieving promotion to the top flight for the first time in the clubs history.Having enjoyed playing as a Premier League team for two seasons, the club were relegated back to the Championship last season and during the summer Nigel Pearson was announced as the clubs new manager, having come close to getting Leicester into the Premier League, narrowly missing out in a Play-Off Semi Final against Cardiff.

The Stadium.

Current capacity – 25,404

The KC Stadium was opened in December 2002, having cost the club £44 million to construct it. The Stadium is used by both Hull City FC and Hull Rugby League clubs.The ground is set in a parkland area and has won numerous awards for its impressive design.Three for the four sides are single tiered, whereas the West Stand has two tiers. There are future plans for the East and South Stands to be developed into two tier stands also but there is no concrete timescales on these plans.The away fans are housed in the North Stand and boasts a decent sized concourse and good old fashioned pie and a beer available from the kiosks.Unfortunately there are a few in the Hull stands that like to berate the away supporters (as we found out in 2005) and this can lead to you feeling a little uncomfortableduring your visit.The stadium is also a ‘no standing area’ and the stewards are very rigid on this policy so expect them to be a complete pain in the arse all game.

The History between the teams.

At (20)

Hull 11QPR 4Draw 5

Rangers’ have been unable to secure a victory in any of their three visits to the KC Stadium but two draws and a loss is not such a bad figure of results considering that it’s going to be a tough place for any Championship club to go and get a result there.

Rangers’ last league victory over Hull was in the 1969/70 season when they won 2-1 at Boothferry Park.Rangers’ also have two League Cup victories over Hull, coming in 1985/86 (en route to the Cup Final) and in 1991/92.This fact obviously stand for nothing as they were so long ago and Hull is a very different club now, hopefully we can record a more recent victory as soon as possible.

How to get there.

By Car: - The postcode for the KC Stadium is HU3 6HU.From the south it’s best to go up the M1, coming off at junction 32 and joining the M18.Follow the M18 until you get to junction 7 and then join onto the M62.Carry on down the M62 until it turns into the A63 and follow this for 15 miles before reaching a roundabout and take the 1st exit onto the A1079. At the next set of traffic lights turn left onto the A1105. At the next set of lights turn right onto WaltonStreet and you will be at the KC Stadium.

For parking you can park at the stadium car park for £5.Other options include parking at the Park and Ride on the A63 just as you enter Hull, queuing for a bus after the game can be tedious however!The other option is to park in one of the multi-storey/shopping centre car parks, but you will more than likely have about a 10-15minute walk to the ground from here.

By Train: - The Stadium is a 20-25 minute walk from the station. To get to the ground from Hull Paragon station you leave the train station at the South side and turn right onto Anlaby Road. Walk straight on down this road and you will reach the stadium.

Pubs 'n' Grub.The easiest pub for away fans to access is The Brickmakers pub virtually opposite the stadium car park entrance. Away fans are allowed in and there are Sky Sports screens in there and also a burger van outside, perfect!Other possibilities include the Walton Street Social Club and the Linnet & Lark pub which is a 15 minute walk away, down Princes Avenue.